Electric furnace.



E. F. CGLUNS.

ELECTRIC FURNMJE.

MPLICAUOH man mAY12,1917..

l ,271,28, Patented 5 2, HNS,

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'ing andthe like.'

man r. comme,

or scnnnncranr, new Yoan, lconrm, A concurren/or New Yoan ASSIGNORF TOGENERAL ELECTRIC atacante nennen.

lpecication qf Letters vPatent.

Patented July 2, 191s.

,Application and )ray '12', 1917. serial no: 168,270.

' Toall whom 'it may concern:

Be it known thatI, EDGAR lF. Cocinas, a

A.citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, l.

county of Schenectady, State of New-York, have'invented certain new and4f useful Improvements in Electric l of -whichthe following is aspecification.

The present invention comprises an elec# trode arrangement suitable forfurnaces 11n which 'industrial operations-are carried.- out, such as.the `melting of metals and the heating of steel for forging, 4annealing,temper-l In furnaces of .this nature it is'desirabl'e that theelectrodes should be of rugged construction, and readilyl adjustable forthe purpose of regulating the operation of the furnace.

It is the object of my invention to provide a .furnace in which theelectrode which'v is subject to deterioration and wearing away by theaction of an arc can be readily rel placed with a minimum of cost andinterruption of service. With this object in' view, I have provided afurnace containing-an electrical conductor or conductors built into thecontai11er"'of the furnace in` fixed relaconfiguration that itv can bereadilyA placed to make good-electrical contact with the conductor andwhen burned away can be easily readjusted or replaced tocontinue the op-A. eration of the furnace.

l n the surface configuration with thel opposingl lthe yelectrodes, andFig. :2

4bric preferred embodiment of my invention, I have provided electrical.conductors with diverging sides in contactwith which are located movableblocks conforming in surface of the fixed conductors.

features of my invention will be with greater' particular-ity in the Thenovel explained following description taken in connection with theaccompanying' drawing, and as pointed out in the' appended claims.

igure 1 is a perspective view of furnace electrodes whichare constructedin accordance with my invention, part ofthe container` being broken awayto show the relationv of is a fragmentary sectional view. of thefurnace.

'Referring to the drawing, the furnace comprisesA a containerlconsisting of fireor other suitable refractory material reinforced bysteel plates 2.' As shown in Fig. 1, the

material to' be heated is contained extendin Furnaces,

easily replaceablev 'and a replaceable conductor of such.

-, tion with said pair withiny a hearthor crucible constituted by thebase 3 of the container and upwardly wall 4, consisting of carborundunaVbric Orother suitable heat-conductive refractory material. Locatedclosely adjaf cent tothe Wall lare the opposing faces of which divergeupwardly. Coperating with the conductor constituted'by the rods 5, 6,are replaceable blocks 7, 8, having a surface configuration adapting.them to lit snugly Within the -recess between the sides of the rods 5,6. Inv the particular form illustrated,

. the blocks 7, 8 have a hexagonal cross section so thatf'when one ofthe blocks becomes hollowed out otherwise worn by the action of the arcthe block may be reversed, or if necessary replaced, andthe operation ofthe understood that the replaceable blocksv7, 8

may be given any other desired surface configuration which will enablethem to make good electrical contact with .the fixed conductors withinthe furnace.

vIt has been found that this construction is particularly useful inelectric furnaces used for the melting of metals, such as brass, 'whichafter melting may be discharged through the spout 12. The metal duringthe heating operation is protected from direct heat radiation of the arcby the wall 4 but receives heat by vconduction and by reflection fromthe Walls of the furnace. Another set of electrodes 13, 14, may beprovided ou the opposite'side of the hearth. Structural features of thefurnace itself are not part of my 'invention but are described in aPatent No. 1,242,275, issued Oct. 9, 1917,'by Irving R. Valentine.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is,- 1. An electric arc furnace comprising pairedelectrical-conductors located adjacent each other, one ormorereplaceableelectric conductors conforming in surface configuriconductors to make substantially parallel, f prismatic rods '6consisting of carbon, graphite or the like,

and claimed Contact therewith and a movable electrode cooperating withsaid replaceable conductor or conductors.

2. An electric furnace comprising a container7 electrical conductorslocated adjacent each other on the base of said container, replaceableconductive blockselectrically in contact .with said conductors andelectrodes projecting through said container in arcing relation withsaid blocks.

3. An electric furnace comprising prismati'c conductors located adjacenteach other on the .base of said furnace and having upwardly divergingsides, a replaceable conelectrode cooperating with saidbloclr to supportan electric arc. j

. An electric arc furnace conij'rislng an electrical conductor providinga rr cess, a re" placea-ble conductive block ttedtosaid recess andelectrically in Contact with said conductor, and-an electrode projectingin ar'cing relation to said clock.

In witness whereof,` l have hereunto set my hand this llth day of May,1917.

EDGAR I". COLLNS.

